Retire as young as you possible can.........seriously.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Please email me if you want to talk about this very serious subject.

Sadly, some will never be able to afford to retire but for those who can please be thinking about it.

I have been in the sporting goods business for over 50 years and watch many go through life.



I retired at almost 70 and that is just way to old.

I had some customers retire before 50........


I have convinced several people to retire earlier than planned.

.

[Idadon]

You are absolutely right Bill. I retired at 41. Over the years I held several jobs but never anything that interfered with my fishing or golf. That was almost 30 years ago and never once regretted my decision. I would add one thought though, make sure you have "Something" to occupy your time. Fishing has been my focus but even that can get tiresome.

[Mickey]

About 7 months to go, retiring at 55. It will be tight money wise but if I waited another 10 years it would still be tight money wise.

When your younger, your body is fine, money and time are in short supply. When your older, your body isn't doing so great, money may or may not be tight but you have lots of time. The trick is to find the balance. Both of my knees bother me, arthritis in my back, right shoulder is jacked up and the left shoulder is on its way. My hearing is lousy, my memory isn't far behind and I need reading glasses to tie knots. I have no intention of working so long that when I finally retire my life is over.

play hard, age early, stop and rust

[Lance Gray]

Bill,

I agree. I am planning on retiring from the Sheriff's office at 50. That is 19 more months. I am going to guide, write, and hunt. Spend my summers at lake Almanor and the rest in Willows. Be a snow bird. Going to be nice!!

[Tony Buzolich]

I retired at 54 and haven't ever looked back. When going through life you have to plan. Plan your way in. Into whatever endeavor you choose be it a business or a profession. But what most people don't think about is planning your way OUT. Professional can't just close the door and walk away. Business owners can't just close the doors and leave tons of inventory to be given away at garage sales. PLAN. How are you going to get out of what you are doing?

Then, there are people like my brother-in-law who is almost 70 and loves his work and has no plans on quitting. He runs an operating room for orthopedic surgery, loves the people he works with, and has no real hobbies.
Tony

[Mr T]

I cant say I'm going just yet- but its clear the idea of going a soon as possible gains currency with me every day.

This type of thread only reinforces that.

Hoping for 3-5 years from now.

[Darian]

I agree with Tony on planning when to retire, altho, I retired early (age 60) and unplanned due to a change in retirement benefits. Sometimes retirement picks you.

Getting back to why I agree with Tony, I would add have some idea of why you'll choose to retire and what you're going to do in retirement. If you follow the advice to retire early and have decent health, you're going to spend a lot of time being bored if you haven't got some idea of what you'll do with that time. I've been retired 17 years and, like Tony, haven't looked back.

At the time, one point emphasized in CalPers retirement seminars was that the average number of months their retirees lived after bailing out was 18 months. I'd bet that statistic carries over to industry, etc., as well. That's sad as some off those employees spent 40 or more years (their entire adult lives) at work....

[johnsquires]

Way too many variables at play, in my opinion, to make a general statement applicable to all. We're all wired differently, have different home-life situations, different obligations, different takes on whether we enjoy working/are really good at what we do and may be needed in some regard. I know people who are perfectly suited for retirement. I know people who retired and within a very short time got "old," older than they would have if they continued working. One nice thing I can see about retiring is you free up a position for someone else. I had a first-time visit to a doctor recently and he asked if I was still working. When I said "Yes," he said "That's good." So for many, working is good for mental health, and some jobs obviously are good for physical health. There's not one-size-fits-all answer in this category.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I think retiring and then going back to work doing something different or something you enjoy might be good.

Semi-retirement is a good thing too.

Reread my first post......

I know it is different for many but most here would enjoy having some years to do what they want to excluding family things.

I know a few people who retired and spent 6 months or more a year RVing out on the open road. Pretty wild.......


Most of my friend who like to fly fish have had a great time in their retirements.


I also had about a dozen old fly fishing friends from the greatest generation that all retired fairly early.

I learned a lot from watching them.

They mostly all outlived their wives.....

Just try to retire as early as you can because you can't rerun this movie.

.

[Darian]

johnsquires,.... For the most part, I believe you're right about the choices of when to retire and what to do in retirement. It's not going to be the same for everyone. However, If you accept the figure cited by CalPers concerning average longevity after retirement, I'd bet that most, if not all potential retirees, would choose more time to enjoy their benefits. After all 18 months isn't much time to do that in. Thus, IMO, the suggestion to retire early as you can is not bad advice to those considering retirement, regardless of the circumstances.

[johnsquires]

Agreed, Darian, as far as the "not bad advice to those considering retirement." A couple of the points I was trying to make are some people love their job and some people (talented surgeons and research scientists, for example), it would be a shame to lose their talent. Some performers have more than enough money to retire and can't perform as well as they used to - Jimmy Buffett, Willie Nelson come to mind - but they continue to work because they love what they do. If you're not enamored with your job and/or you would much rather be doing something else and circumstances permit, by all means retire as soon as you can. Personal wiring plays into this decision as much as personal circumstances is my point.

[Darian]

Understood and agree.... :cool:

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

According to the top 10 US insurance companies the sooner you retire, the longer you will live.

This is the statistical information they use to run their companies.

I was told about this about 30 years ago.

[johnsquires]

Insurance companies aside, medical research has found the following:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/this-is-your-brain-on-retirement---not-nearly-as-sharp-studies-are-finding/2015/10/29/7a0168ba-7dac-11e5-afce-2afd1d3eb896_story.html?utm_term=.7c076e025f47

[Darian]

Seems like the conclusion of the study was based on retiring early and sitting on the porch and doing nothing. I would agree that having nothing to do and/or doing nothing would have negative impacts on anyone in that situation. However, as I mentioned earlier, you should some idea of what you will do while retired (a plan). Altho, I didn't follow my own advice, I was still very busy for several years volunteering for NGOs, exercising heavily, fishing, some travel and goofing off in general (socializing). If I am an example, we age in retirement with decent health and tend to remain active, not sedentary.

[johnsquires]

Speaking only for myself (I'm currently only working 3 or 4 days a month), I find not having to deal with traffic on a daily basis is doing wonders for my mental health.

[Darian]

I moved to Sacramento (1975) when traffic was nothing like the volume we see now. May have to consider moving to a smaller city, myself.... :cool:

[johnsquires]

I moved to Sacramento (1975) when traffic was nothing like the volume we see now. May have to consider moving to a smaller city, myself.... :cool:

Made the mistake of taking Watt Ave last weekend when the marathon was going on. I'd like to have that time added back to my life. One time I tried to work in the Jackson, WY area and I went to a job in Pinedale and I was thinking how nice it is not to have traffic. Then I got caught behind sheep being herded. And they weren't crossing the road - they were going the same direction I was. As Gilda would say, "It's always something."

[PV_Premier]

on a recent trip to NZ chasing trout down lonely gravel tracks, i had to wait for several cattle crossings. that kind of "traffic jam" is much easier on the mental health than the bumper to bumper on biz-80 here in Sacramento.

about to turn 35. if i can be off the hamster wheel in 15-20 years, i'll be tickled.

[johnsquires]

And many of us didn't have the threat of AI or robotics hanging over our heads. Those two factors alone are/will cause many to retire early. For many, it's going to be adapt, move, or take a seat in front of the TV. It's a different world out there, about to become very different. One of the few downsides of living in a first-world country.

[Tony Buzolich]

Darian,

I was born and raised in Sacramento since 1947. My dad and I would walk over to the American and watch salmon working their way upstream from the Business 80 bridge which was under construction. There was no Cal Expo just grass fields and sheep being tended to by a Basque herder in a wagon.

As I grew up so did Sacramento and so did the traffic. After getting my first job teaching I bought my first house way out in the country of Citrus Heights. But then I had to deal with driving into Sacramento to teach and I started looking for a place farther out in Auburn or Shingle Springs. Still couldn't stand all the traffic and gave up teaching and moved to Napa. Much quieter place to live but found myself on the freeway again every day driving to work in Vacaville. Uugh. 45 minutes each way for almost thirty years.

Enough is enough and I retired early, sold everything, and moved full time to my cabin in Soda Springs. Took a while to get to that point but I'm glad I did. Been retired now for 17 years, and not much else to do but fish. :)
Tony

[BumpBailey]

This is a great topic and I hope I can glean some knowledge from you wily veterans! Like many have said, everyone's situation is different. Me and my wife are both 52 and hope we can retire in the next 10 years. However, we started our family late. Two boys with our youngest only 8, do the math..... he will just be finishing high school and will be going off to college when we are both 63! The upside of starting the family late is we are financially secure. College funds are pretty much covered, we have two properties with our main residence in the south bay area. Assuming no drastic changes in the real estate market we should cash out nicely when we sell that one and move the Hell out of the Bay Area....

I/we want to enjoy that part of our lives. RVing is definitely going to be big part of it! Looking forward to driving all the way up to Alaska! I am a pretty active person, fish, golf, bike, ski, soccer. Other hobbies to keep my brain busy, photography, reading... I want to learn how to tie flies and maybe pick up a musical instrument again.... volunteer to help make some of my favorite waters a little better....

I am definitely not trying to get political here but, our biggest concern is the cost of health benefits when you are on your own. That is a big nut when you are used to your employer covering the majority of that expense for you. What are you early retiree's doing for your health coverage? Is it as expensive as it seems?

You all are an inspiration and I hope to get some responses to my question. It's definitely time we start detailing these plans and make that last push to fill up the coffers!

Tight lines and Happy Holidays all!

[Peter S]

Good advice Bill. Best thing I ever did was to prepare and plan while in my late 30's/early 40's for retirement at 50. I've been retired for 10 years now and I look forward to each new day.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I am glad we are getting some good dialog going here.


I think we have been retired for maybe 3 or 4 years now.

Our only complaint is that we did not do it sooner.

We do many of our customers at the shop but the trade off is worth it.

Marilyn and I hope we can both stay healthy as long as we can so we can keep enjoying all this free time.



We all have a different set of variables in our lives which effects our planning.


I glad that this might help others to plan for retirement sooner.

And maybe a few might retire sooner.





Recently our good fly fishing friend and bachelor Rick Jorgensen retired, got ride of everything he could, bought a big pickup and nice four season travel trailer.

He is basically left on a big fishing trip that will go on until he is too old to do it anymore.

This is only possible for a few of us but it is so cool to just think of all the good days that Rick will have.



Another fly fishing couple we know, Rick & Fran Radoff, key members of the Granite Bay Flycasters retired a few years ago.

They bought a big Class A motor home with an SUV in tow and left on a big fly fishing adventure across the USA.

I think they have been out on the open road for about 4 years now.

They spent 2017 petty much in Florida.

Many are on Facebook with them and get reports of their adventures almost daily.







.

[johnsquires]

BumpBailey, it sounds like you have it dialed in. I have friends who sold in the Bay Area at the right time, moved to Red Lodge, Montana, and have never looked back.
As far as healthcare, that's pretty much speculation - except to say it cannot continue on the way it's going. If you do the math, it doesn't look good. It's not possible to continue on with the same approach. I feel for the young ones.
For those looking forward to RV travel in the future, now is a great time (end-of-the-year donations) to donate to orgs who are fighting to keep our beautiful places in public hands.

[Darian]

BumpBailey,.... Sounds like you've done your homework. Health Insurance seems to be the one thing that is tough to plan for in retirement. Unless you're covered by insurance plan provided by your former employer, it seems that you'll be at the mercy of whatever the ever-changing market will impose. With the recent moves by health insurance companies into providing preventive care through local clinics, even where you can access providers will change. One area of concern I've found is that coverage areas are not very extensive, even within this state. For example, coverage is not provided in some northern and/or eastern counties.

Something to think about....

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

"I am definitely not trying to get political here but, our biggest concern is the cost of health benefits when you are on your own. That is a big nut when you are used to your employer covering the majority of that expense for you. What are you early retiree's doing for your health coverage? Is it as expensive as it seems?" from BumpBailey.

This is a serious issue that will effect many here.

This will and can make many work much longer, at least to 65 when Medicare (80%) kicks in.

My wife and I have our medical benefit through her retirement at UC Davis which is a blessing.


I am trying to get everyone to think more about this.

Most don't think about retirement until about 50 because raising children does not give much time for this.

.